Landscape in the Style of Dong Yuan and Juran

Also known as: Landscape in the Style of Dong Yuan (active about 937-975) and Juran (active about 960-985); Landscape in the Style of Tung Yüan and Chü-jan; Landscape in the Style of Dong Yuan and Juran 仿董巨山水圖

About the Artwork

Towering peaks and unfolding ranges are piled up and overlaid with layer after layer of brushwork to give an overall dense, dark, and even melancholic effect. Gong Xian created a personal style of landscape, which departed greatly from his models Dong Yuan and Juran. The tension between tradition and individuality had been a topic of interest for the Chinese artist. As Gong Xian writes in his inscription: "Painters of later periods may be known for their natural talents or praised for their observance of established traditions. . . . However, those who indulge in showing off their talent will deviate from the tradition, while those who adhere to tradition will alienate themselves from the Dao. The supreme Dao is inexplicable in words. . . ."

Inscriptions

畫家董巨，實開南宗。既無剛根之氣，復無刻畫之跡。後之作者或以才見，或以法稱。唯董巨則幾乎道矣。然逞才則離法，泥法則叛道。至道無可道。說者謂即歛才就法之謂道。問之董巨，而董巨不知，忽乎微矣。此幅余二十年前舊作。藏之新安吳氏。吳君晉明寶之若家珍。後携之金陵。命余題識。余因與晉明論畫及此，并紀之。非敢曰此效法董巨而有得焉者也。庚戌冬杪半畝居人龔賢。 [印]龔半千; 野遺賢; [左下]龔賢; [上]可能另有龔賢一印。; 2 additional seals of Cheng Qi 程琦 (1911–1988)

Exhibition history

Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970). The Colors of Ink. Asia House Galleries (January 10-March 3, 1974); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 9-May 12, 1974). Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982). Mountains, Rocks, and Water: Landscape Painting in Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 2-December 13, 1987).

Quick Overview

Artist: Gong Xian (Chinese, 1599–1689)
Date: c. 1650
Medium: hanging scroll, ink with white pigment on silk
Dimensions: Image: 216.6 x 57.3 cm (85 1/4 x 22 9/16 in.); Overall: 285.8 x 75.5 cm (112 1/2 x 29 3/4 in.); with knobs: 258.8 x 90.1 cm (101 7/8 x 35 1/2 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Chinese Art
Credit line: Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
Accession no.: 1969.123

Provenance

c. 1650–at least c. 1670: Wu Jinming 吳晉明 [17th century], Xin’an Cheng Qi 程琦 [1911–1988], to his son, Stephen O. K. Chen ?–1969: (Stephen O. K. Chen [20th century], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1969–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

More by Gong Xian in museum collections

Summer in the Water Country
Gong Xian
1670s · Painting
Museum collection · via the Cleveland Museum of ArtAT-00010185

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.